Divine Structure
There are three Divine Powers within the world of Midlantia, each having its own perspective of the universe. The races of Midlantia worship the gods based on the tendencies of their differing societies. In Avalon the worship of the Dark Lord is strictly forbidden and those that do are punished in accordance with the Laws of Avalon. The general populice worships both the High Lord and Mother in equal measure; the High Lord for protection from harm and health to the people and the Mother for fair weather and health to their crops and game. The High Lord The High Lord is eternally opposed by the Dark Lord; where the High Lord seeks to protect, the Dark Lord harms, where the High Lord seeks to nurture, the Dark Lord corrupts and destroys. Thus their eternal fight – from the moment of their first awakening – rages across the world. This fight continues to this day, and will most likely continue to the end of time. In these modern days, the war is fought by their followers, and in the case of the High Lord, in the Cleric, Paladin and White Sorcerer. The High Lord opposes all forms of evil and their minions, thus the High Lord and the Mother oft find themselves on the same side of the fight against necromancy and the undead. Dragons and Drakes These magical creatures are a race created by the High Lord and as such maintain a divine connection to the High Lord. They are the guiding force of the Light and act as a conduit between the Mortal Races and the High Lord. The Council of Dragons is a collection of nine dragons who work together to oppose Servants of Darkness, Demons, Heirarchs and The Dark Lord. More can be learned about them here. Celestials and Solars Celestial and Solars are the resident races of the Plains of Elysium. This is the realm of the High Lord. Paths of the Mortal Races The Cleric : The Cleric fills the role of guide, protector, leader, helper and sometime defender. Clerics guide people who seek to follow the High Lord not just with teaching them, but with their needs, charitably giving of themselves for the sake of others. Clerics primarily assist others in the fight against those who seek to harm. Clerics are more often found amongst the people helping them, then they would be involved in a fight. The Paladin : Paladins are the proactive servants of the High Lord, going forth and smiting minions of the Dark Lord, undead, demons and all manner of creatures and men who seek to harm others or spread evil. White Sorcerers : White Sorcerers are divine practitioners of sorcery, adept in the high arcane arts of sorcery as well as devoted followers of the High Lord. Their task is to help and support those who fight on the side of Light with their potent magics, for not only are they able to cast all the neutral rituals, but the potent white rituals, some of which are only available to the White Sorcerer. The White Sorcerer’s role is similar to that of the Cleric, but where the Cleric teaches and guides, the White Sorcerer uses their gifts mainly to strengthen and help those who fight the good fight. THE MOTHER The Mother is one of the three divine forces of the LAIRE game world, along with the High Lord and the Dark Lord. While the latter eternally feud with each other, the Mother concerns herself with the aspects of the world not directly in the fight – the plants, animals and creatures She has created, in other words, nature. There are three primary worlds or Planes of Existence in our game. Most of the action takes place on Midlantia, the Mother’s home. The Elysian Fields is the home of the High Lord and Hell is the home of the Dark Lord. Druids are the followers of the Mother, Her voice and hands amongst the mortal creatures of the world ensuring above all else that life and the natural cycle of death and rebirth are maintained and the balance between the forces of Law and Chaos is kept. In times past, the battle between the forces of Good and Evil have devastated and nearly destroyed the world. The Mother’s followers have been there to put things right, but they have another enemy – the undead. In a time long ago, necromancy was created, a magical force that threatens the world with destruction in a slow and nearly unstoppable way. Necromancy is an anathema to everything the Mother is and her followers are tasked with its destruction. Forrestalls and Nymphs Forrestalls Unlike the other two councils, the Forestalls do not differ much from each other. They all act as wise, impassive guardians of the natural order. Each champions their own area and rarely do two Forestalls find cause to meet, and when they do, it is always the most terrible of times. Unfortunately, my knowledge of forestalls ends here, either because they are not a talkative bunch or because they are the most straightforward. Nymphs Druids and Druidic Society In the lands of Avalon and indeed most of Midlantia, the Druids have formed themselves into Circles. These Circles are lead by a High Druid and protect the local geographical regions. There is a Circle for Avalon, Barconia, Coventry, etc. This is the norm for the Druids, but there may be others who have different beliefs on how to organize themselves and this must be found out in-game. For every Druid that is part of a circle, there is a one this not. A loner that wonders the deep forests, lonely crags, high mountain tops and low mountain valleys segregated from mortal societies. These loner types care little for other mortal races and seek to avoid them and their distractions. Some Druids are warriors. Proactive fighter who move through nature as a predator hunting those that seek to despoil the Mother’s gardens. Others are mages and scholars. They seek to teach and guide others in living in harmony with nature. Druids seek to maintain the harmonious balance of nature and fix things when external powers upset this balance. A Druid would be called to a forest after a fire to ensure life returns naturally to the area. A land destroyed by a necromantic disease, however, has been destroyed un-naturally and a Druid would use their faith to bring life to the land once more. Druids are neither good nor evil; there is no morality in the teachings of the Mother. The Mother teaches balance and survival through ones own skills and abilities. Overcoming adversity and difficulty proves ones own worth. It is how all things grow and become better. Some Druids take this idea of survival of the fittest to the extreme. They embrace the aggressive and sometimes violent power of nature and turn wild and feral. They see all mortal races as their enemies and lash out and try to destroy them all. Most Druids, being moral people, have a sense of right and wrong. They may find themselves upholding some personal belief of what is right when not directly serving the interests of the Mother. This is fine, so long as their duties to the Mother and her ideals and precepts come first. Any race that has free will can become a Druid. Characters such as goblins, orcs, trolls and other creatures that do not have free will cannot follow any faith. A character can only follow one faith at one time; therefore a character cannot become a Follower of the Light or Servant of Darkness while they are still a Druid. THE DARK LORD All that is dark and evil comes from the Dark Lord; the wellspring of malevolence, necromancy, evil and all things vile in the universe. The Dark Lord seeks to spread death, destruction, evil, suffering and misery throughout the world. The Dark Lord’s rival is the High Lord and their eternal struggle has raged throughout time and continues to this day carried on by his servants the Dark Cleric, the Dark Paladin, and the Dark Sorcerer, from all of whom the Dark Lord brooks no disobedience and demands complete servitude. The Dark Lord has many minions at his command: the mortal creatures his servants the Hierarchs created, – the goblins, orcs, trolls, ogres and many, many more – demons and other minions of Hell, and the undead. It is because of the undead that the Followers of the Mother oft find themselves at odds with the Servants of Darkness. It however does not end there. The Dark Lord’s minions and servants frequently destroy life where they find it, and the Servants of the Mother are there to protect nature. Heirarchs and Demons Races of the Heirarchs Paths of the Mortal Races Dark Cleric : The Dark Cleric fills the role of insurgent, spreading lies and corruption amongst the people where they live. They lead their followers, teaching them the ways of the Dark Lord. They find any and all ways to spread the evil of the Dark Lord and foster their own dark desires. Dark Paladin : Dark Paladins are the shining beacon of darkness, the open antagonists of the Dark Lord. They are the champions of evil; ever seeking the downfall of those who follow the ideals of the High Lord, destroy, oppress, and rule the common man, and ever seeking to spread their master’s evil. Dark Sorcerer : Dark Sorcerers are divine practitioners of sorcery, adept in the high arcane arts of sorcery as well as servants of the Dark Lord. Their task is to help and support those who fight on the side of evil with their potent magics, for not only are they able to cast all the neutral rituals, but the potent dark rituals some of which are only available to the Dark Sorcerer. The Dark Sorcerer’s role is mainly to strengthen and help those who fight on the side of evil.